Fans weigh up the risks

Police believe the FAs warnings have sunk in  supporters who attend the match will be out there on their own. By David Bond

LED by England captain David Beckham, the Football Association will issue a fresh round of warnings to fans this week in one final, desperate effort to deter them from travelling to Istanbul. The appeals come a week after Sven-Göran Eriksson delivered an unprecedented plea for England supporters not to undermine his team’s campaign to reach the Euro 2004 finals in Portugal.

According to police intelligence sources, the FA’s campaign is working. Officers say they are measuring the number of troublemakers planning to travel to Turkey in their “tens” rather than “hundreds”.

Although they don’t rule out the possibility that more England supporters could decide to go later this week, they are confident the message has got through.

Police think that known troublemakers will stay away, believing that the risk of being intercepted on arrival in Istanbul or by one of the three security cordons that will surround the Fenerbahçe stadium